SNAP benefits are back online for December, but the program looks different than it did before the shutdown.
The big picture:November's mass chaos over the freezing of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments is over, but new work requirements and Trump administration threats make qualifying for benefits — and potentially receiving them — more fraught.
Key Senate Democrats told Axios that the Trump administration did not inform lawmakers of a second strike against survivors of attacks on suspected drug trafficking boats from Venezuela.
Why it matters: Claiming they were blindsided by reports of a second strike, Senate Democrats are demanding a thorough congressional investigation and calling on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign.
The Trump administration will pause aid for Democrat-led states that don't provide the government with identifying information about SNAP recipients, such as immigration status, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday.
Why it matters: If the administration goes through with the threat, millions of Americans could lose their SNAP benefits, sometimes known as food stamps, just over a month after recipients were put in limbo during the longest-ever government shutdown.
President Trump unveiled a new form Tuesday that parents can use to sign their children up for "Trump accounts."
The big picture: Trump accounts are tax-advantaged savings and investment accounts for children, and will guarantee kids born between 2025 and 2028 some $1,000 in seed money from the U.S. Treasury to start their holdings.
Also known as 530A accounts or Invest America accounts, contributions to Trump accounts will be accepted starting July 4, 2026, Trump said on Tuesday.
The man accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members in D.C. last week has been charged with murder and is facing additional firearm and assault felonies, per court documents filed Tuesday.
The big picture: President Trump's administration seized on the shooting, allegedly carried out by an Afghan national, to institute a stiffer travel ban and step up its immigration crackdown.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said Tuesday she will not launch a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and will instead run next year for reelection to her U.S. House seat.
Why it matters: Markey, 79, has faced pressure to step aside amid a growing generational revolt in the Democratic party, with Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), 47, already running to unseat him.
The House once again ground to a halt for about an hour Tuesday after a group of conservative rebels refused to support a typically party-line vote to move ahead with the chamber's business for the week.
Why it matters: It's the latest example House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) challenges governing with his razor-thin majority.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he did not personally see any survivors after the initial strike on a purported drug vessel that was later hit with a subsequent attack.
The big picture: Hegseth and administration allies have denied a report that the military conducted a follow-up strike on alleged "narco-terrorists" who survived an initial hit in compliance with a directive to leave no survivors. If substantiated, legal experts say, the orders could violate international law.
The Department of Homeland Security is planning to shift its attention to Minnesota as part of its nationwide immigration crackdown, Secretary Kristi Noem said in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The Somali community, which has a significant population in Minnesota, has been a regular target for President Trump. "They contribute nothing. I don't want 'em in our country," he said Tuesday.
During a long phone call on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Trump for more support in his push for a pardon from Israel's president, two U.S. officials and one Israeli official said.
The big picture: In a conversation that largely focused on Gaza and Syria, the leaders also discussed Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial. Trump has repeatedly intervened in Israel's judicial process and domestic politics to push for an end to those proceedings.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth struck a defiant tone Tuesday, telling reporters during a Cabinet meeting that the military has "only just begun" sinking "narco-terrorists" to "the bottom of the ocean."
The big picture: The Trump administration has rallied around Hegseth following a report that the military in September conducted a second strike on an alleged drug vessel near Venezuela to kill any survivors, which legal experts warn could violate the laws of war.
Every National Guard member in Washington, D.C., is now armed following the recent shooting that killed one and critically injured another minutes away from the White House, the Pentagon said during a Tuesday press conference.
The big picture: President Trump and the Pentagon have said that the fatal shooting was a "terrorist attack" on American soil and have doubled down on the president's push to send troops into cities to reduce crime.
Sabrina Carpenter scolded the White House on Tuesday for using her music in a recent video on ICE raids.
Why it matters: Carpenter joins the growing list of celebrities who have spoken out against the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security over use of their music, images and likeness for videos promoting Trump's immigration policy.
President Trump launched an hours-long Truth Social posting spree late Monday night as he lashed out at political rivals and boosted supporters' messages about his accomplishments.
By the numbers: Trump made 158 posts from 9pm Monday to 12am Tuesday, per an Axios analysis, a rate of nearly one post per minute.
Mass killings in the U.S. so far this year have dropped to their lowest level since researchers began tracking mass homicides in 2006.
The big picture: This decline tracks with a broader cooling of violent crime across the U.S. following pandemic-era spikes, though criminologists suggest the drop may simply mark a return to historic averages.
Pressure from President Trump to block state-level AI regulation is falling short on Capitol Hill.
Why it matters: The White House and Hill allies have landed on an AI preemption proposal and are pressing ahead, but time is running out and opposition is mounting.
The U.S. government has agreed to invest $150 million into xLight, a Silicon Valley-based developer of new technologies for semiconductor manufacturing.
Why it matters: This would be the Trump administration's first new award under the CHIPS Act, a Biden-era law designed to boost domestic chip production and research.
Tech mogul Michael Dell said Tuesday he will pledge $6.25 billion to fund 25 million "Trump accounts" for kids.
Why it matters: The massive gift, likely one of the largest ever to benefit children, will extend the reach of the new child investment accounts beyond those made eligible by the "big beautiful bill."
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday endorsed the idea of cellphone bans in high schools, becoming the latest world leader to back restrictions on teen tech and social media use.
Why it matters: Data continues to suggest a correlation between children's smartphone use and poor mental and physical health.
Though President Trump was named Time Magazine's "2024 Person of the Year," something — rather than someone — may be in the running for the title this year: Artificial Intelligence.
The big picture: Time's Person of the Year issue has been published for nearly a century, but Polymarket predicts this could be only the second time a non-human wins the designation — edging out contenders like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Pope Leo XIV and Trump.
President Trump has embraced clemency as an expression of raw political power, seizing on a unique authority designed to go unchecked by Congress, the Constitution or the courts.
Why it matters: No presidential power is more absolute than the pardon. And no president has wielded it more openly as a tool of personal and ideological loyalty than Donald Trump.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said after meeting with President Trump on Monday that she's recommending a travel ban on multiple countries in connection with criminal activity in the U.S.
The big picture: Trump widened his administration's hardline immigration crackdown after officials said the suspect in last Wednesday's ambush-style shooting in D.C. that killed one National Guard member and critically injured another was an Afghan national.
The publisher of the "Franklin the Turtle" children's books series said Monday it condemns the unauthorized use of the beloved character, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an image of him apparently firing at drug boats.
The big picture: Hegseth posted the image to his personal X account amid reports questioning the legality of adeadly strike on a suspected drug boat near Venezuela that prompted some congressional lawmakers to warn that, if substantiated, the deaths could violate the laws of war.
Starbucks will pay more than $38 million in a settlement announced Monday by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, after the coffee giant was accused of violating NYC's Fair Workweek Law over half a million times since 2021.
The big picture: The agreement following an NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection investigation marks the largest worker protection settlement in the city's history, Adams said on X.
From a U.S. prison cell, Honduras' ex-president secured a likely pardon for drug trafficking thanks to a letter he penned praising President Trump — whom he called "Your Excellency" — and a persistent lobbying campaign by longtime Trump pal Roger Stone.
Why it matters: The surprise announcement of Juan Orlando Hernandez's looming pardon is a window into the unorthodox, norm-shattering way Trump grants clemency.
Republicans have spent $3.3 million to defend a congressional seat in Tennessee that President Trump won by 22 percentage points, according to AdImpact.
Why it matters: The big GOP spend is the latest example of the party going all-in on special elections to avoid a loss, or an embarrassment.
Members of the House of Representatives are quitting Congress at a record rate, with Republican retirements and resignations outpacing Democrats by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio in the first 11 months of the year.
Why it matters: In previous cycles, the party with more departures tends to lose seats — if not the majority.
